The Shape of Work

#70: Vamsi Udayagiri on what it takes to build and manage a team to revolutionize Rural Commerce

August 15, 2021 Springworks Season 1 Episode 70
The Shape of Work
#70: Vamsi Udayagiri on what it takes to build and manage a team to revolutionize Rural Commerce
Show Notes Chapter Markers

In this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we welcome Vamsi Udayagiri, Founder & CEO of Hesa Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an integrated B2B rural marketplace.

Vamsi is on a mission to connect brands to their rural consumers. He has visited more than four thousand villages in five different states to understand the nuances.

In this episode, we discuss with Vamsi:

  • The challenges of bringing disruption in rural areas
  • The secret to the future growth of social commerce
  • The huge benefits a diverse team can bring
  • The idea of Hesa Technologies: “India lives in its villages. Rural India is where the new and upcoming middle class is growing” 
  • How different people-management skills are in the rural sector
  • The overall outlook to the rural sector’s goals and approach

The level of tech acceptance in villages:

Over his years of experience, Vamsi observes that very few people understand technology in rural areas. That was the reason why this idea behind their startup was delayed till 2019. It was the year the penetration of the internet and other technologies reached these areas. After the onset of the pandemic, many people reverse migrated from urban to rural areas. Here is where Hesa gave these people the option to be micro-entrepreneurs. Vamsi says that the situation has been relatively easy now. Moreover, he feels that people in rural areas have an entrepreneurial mindset. Simple and accessible platforms like Hesa can offer them an opportunity to widen their reach. They offer continuous training facilities from their on-ground and backend teams.

New startups that are appropriate for the Indian market:

There are enormous opportunities available in rural areas. Vamsi feels that the rural areas consist of a huge customer base. Talking about any business vertical in rural areas turns into a billion-dollar opportunity. The entire challenge is to figure out a way to address this.
Vamsi says that there are plenty of fintech and agri-tech startups trying to change things at the grassroots level. He feels that the biggest challenge is that the end customer is not the user of the platform. Less than 7%-8% of rural consumers perform business transactions using smartphones.

It is the reason why this model is created. Influencers know how to use smartphones, and they can reach out to plenty of people to widen the scope of the businesses. Many agri-tech startups are paving their way into the industry. Vamsi talks about one of their innovation programs focusing on innovators in every household. A lot of innovations are happening at the grass-root level. Giving them market access is the right way to go about it.

Is increased migration acting as a barrier?

It is definitely a challenge, as Vamsi mentions. However, there are plenty of people who are going back to farming. He feels that we should find ways to get back to our roots and help the farming community to grow. It is a huge problem to solve and can be done at a government level. Marginal farmers having small acres of land are facing the major issue here. Due to financial constraints, they are bound to leave and work in industries. However, Vamsi is hopeful, saying that there are plenty of interventions already happening. There will definitely be a positive impact.

Follow Vamsi on LinkedIn

Produced by: Priya Bhatt
Podcast host: Yashwanth Jembige

The challenges of bringing disruption in rural areas
The secret to the future growth of social commerce
The huge benefits a diverse team can bring
The idea of Hesa Technologies: “India lives in its villages. Rural India is where the new and upcoming middle class is growing”
How different people-management skills are in the rural sector